


Happy Birthday

by Joking611



Series: Cari'ssi'mi Drabbles [71]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Birthday, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23608546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joking611/pseuds/Joking611
Summary: Once again, Denai has to pull Sarah back when she tries to run from her responsibilitiesWritten for Shepard's birthday - 2020
Relationships: Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni
Series: Cari'ssi'mi Drabbles [71]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/624863
Comments: 20
Kudos: 81





	Happy Birthday

“Happy Birthday, Sarah.” The greeting echoed through the hangar.

“Fuck.”

Denai chuckled at the not unexpected response.

“So, this is _not_ a happy birthday then?”

Shepard looked up from where she’d been arranging gear next to her shuttle. The vehicle was small, but powerful, and carried over a hundred years of upgrades and dirty tricks inside its antique shell.

“I had hopes,” answered Shepard as she gave the matriarch a sour look before turning back to her work. “At least until you found me.”

“It wasn’t much of a search.” Denai leaned against the shuttle, just under the ‘ _Anderson_ ’ that adorned the hull. “You were going to be at the arena, the cliffs, or here.”

“Are you saying I’m predictable?” Shepard kept stacking gear.

“This seemed to be one of those ‘I need to go save the galaxy to make myself feel better’ moments, so I decided to start with the most likely location.”

“And now you think you’re going to talk me into going to the party?”

“Birthday parties weren’t a tradition on Thessia until _you_ started them, so it seems reasonable.”

Sarah grabbed a case of heat sinks from the pile and tossed it through the open hatch of the shuttle. “That was a stupid idea. _‘All those birthdays,’_ I thought. We’d never lack for a reason to party.”

“You were younger then.”

“No kidding.”

Denai smiled. “You’re still young.”

“I still _look_ young. I’m old enough to be a grandmother, I don’t know how many generations removed at this point.”

“But you aren’t. A grandmother, that is.”

“I might as well be.” A crate of grenades followed the heat sinks into the shuttle. “Do you know how many kids are named after me? How many of their kids named kids after me?”

“A great many.”

“And do you know how many people are celebrating my birthday today?”

“Liara did promise to keep the number of guests to a manageable level.”

Shepard shook her head. “Not _here_.” She jerked her thumb skyward. “ _There_.”

Denai’s eyes reflectively glanced up before she answered. “They honor you.”

“They don’t even know me. You do realize that most of the people celebrating my birthday weren’t even alive when I was born?”

Denai paused for a moment, watching the former commander continue to load munitions into her shuttle. It wasn’t the first time. Despite the fact that all spacefaring lifeforms in the galaxy owed their very existence to the woman in front of her, Sarah had never been able to accept the reverence in which she was held by most of the galaxy. Every so often she had to go out there, away from the safety of Thessia. She could always find someone who needed saving. She still needed to prove to herself that she was deserving of the praise others insisted to bestow upon her. This woman who had saved the galaxy twice over, sometimes felt she was barely worthy to live in it.

“I was,” Denai answered quietly.

“What?” Shepard looked up from inspecting a Carnifex that belonged in a museum.

“Alive. I was alive when you were born. As was my bondmate. As was _your_ bondmate.”

“That’s not what I-“

“And I am still alive because of that event, of your birth. As is everyone who is coming to the estate today. As is everyone who is celebrating your birthday on any number of worlds, even if they don’t know who you are, and are simply using this as an excuse for revelry.”

“Well of course I-“

“Should I not be pleased that you exist?” Pressed Denai. “Should I not be pleased that you continue to do so?” Denai was on a roll now. Once she would have simply stepped aboard the shuttle with Shepard, and done all she could to keep the human safe. She would have placated her, allowed Sarah to work through this particular crisis on her own.

But not today.

Perhaps having children of her own made had Denai less tolerant of this particular behavior.

Denai stepped forward, reaching down to pull a particularly used, but well cared for shotgun from the pile of equipment. She pushed it into the taller woman’s chest. “This is all you’ll need.”

Shepard looked down in surprise, both at the shotgun and how she’d come to be holding it. “I don’t-“

“Grunt should be here by now.”

“Grunt?” Sarah looked up, a familiar light starting to show in her eyes.

“Yes, Grunt. You don’t think Liara wouldn’t have made sure this was fun for you too?”

“I didn’t think he and Liara were on speaking terms.”

“So long as he doesn’t break your arm again this year, everything should be fine.”


End file.
